The bipolar outflow from the massive star-forming cluster in DR 21 is one of the most powerful known, and in IRAC images the outflow stands out by virtue of its brightness at 4.5 km (band 2). Indeed, ...IRAC images of many Galactic and extragalactic star formation regions feature prominent band 2 morphologies. We have analyzed archival ISO SWS spectra of the DR 21 outflow and compare them to updated H sub(2) shocked and UV excitation models. We find that H sub(2) line emission contributes about 50% of the flux of the IRAC bands at 3.6, 4.5, and 5.8 km, and is a significant contributor to the 8.0 km band as well, and confirm that the outflow contains multiple excitation mechanisms. Other potentially strong features, in particular Bra and CO emission, have been suggested as contributing to IRAC fluxes in outflows, but they are weak or absent in DR 21; surprisingly, there also is no evidence for strong PAH emission. The results imply that IRAC images can be a powerful detector of, and diagnostic for, outflows caused by massive star formation activity in our Galaxy, and in other galaxies as well. They also suggest that IRAC color-color diagnostic diagrams may need to take into account the possible influence of these strong emission lines. IRAC images of the general ISM in the region, away from the outflow, are in approximate, but not precise, agreement with theoretical models.
ABSTRACT We present the initial results of our investigation of the star-forming complex W49, one of the youngest and most luminous massive star-forming regions in our Galaxy. We used ...Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) data to investigate massive star formation with the primary objective of locating a representative set of protostars and the clusters of young stars that are forming around them. We present our source catalog with the mosaics from the IRAC data. In this study we used a combination of IRAC, MIPS, Two Micron All Sky Survey, and UKIRT Deep Infrared Sky Survey (UKIDSS) data to identify and classify the young stellar objects (YSOs). We identified 232 Class 0/I YSOs, 907 Class II YSOs, and 74 transition disk candidate objects using color-color and color-magnitude diagrams. In addition, to understand the evolution of star formation in W49, we analyzed the distribution of YSOs in the region to identify clusters using a minimal spanning tree method. The fraction of YSOs that belong to clusters with ≥7 members is found to be 52% for a cutoff distance of 96″, and the ratio of Class II/I objects is 2.1. We compared the W49 region to the G305 and G333 star-forming regions and concluded that W49 has the richest population, with seven subclusters of YSOs.
The formation of stars in massive clusters is one of the main modes of the star formation process. However, the study of massive star-forming regions is hampered by their typically large distances to ...the Sun. One exception to this is the massive star-forming region Cygnus OB2 in the Cygnus X region, at the distance of ~1400 pc. Cygnus OB2 hosts very rich populations of massive and low-mass stars, being the best target in our Galaxy to study the formation of stars, circumstellar disks, and planets in the presence of massive stars. In this paper, we combine a wide and deep set of photometric data, from the r band to 24 mu m, in order to select the disk-bearing population of stars in Cygnus OB2 and identify the class I, class II, and stars with transition and pre-transition disks. We selected 1843 sources with infrared excesses in an area of 1degrees x 1degrees centered on Cyg OB2 in several evolutionary stages: 8.4% class I, 13.1% flat-spectrum sources, 72.9% class II, 2.3% pre-transition disks, and 3.3% transition disks. The spatial distribution of these sources shows a central cluster surrounded by an annular overdensity and some clumps of recent star formation in the outer region. Several candidate subclusters are identified, both along the overdensity and in the rest of the association.
ABSTRACT We present a time-variability study of young stellar objects (YSOs) in the cluster IRAS 20050+2720, performed at 3.6 and 4.5 m with the Spitzer Space Telescope; this study is part of the ...Young Stellar Object VARiability (YSOVAR) project. We have collected light curves for 181 cluster members over 60 days. We find a high variability fraction among embedded cluster members of ca. 70%, whereas young stars without a detectable disk display variability less often (in ca. 50% of the cases) and with lower amplitudes. We detect periodic variability for 33 sources with periods primarily in the range of 2-6 days. Practically all embedded periodic sources display additional variability on top of their periodicity. Furthermore, we analyze the slopes of the tracks that our sources span in the color-magnitude diagram (CMD). We find that sources with long variability time scales tend to display CMD slopes that are at least partially influenced by accretion processes, while sources with short variability timescales tend to display extinction-dominated slopes. We find a tentative trend of X-ray detected cluster members to vary on longer timescales than the X-ray undetected members.
Understanding the origin and diversity of emission processes responsible for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remains a pressing challenge. While prompt and contemporaneous panchromatic observations have the ...potential to test predictions of the internal-external shock model, extensive multiband imaging has been conducted for only a few GRBs. We present rich, early-time, multiband data sets for two Swift events, GRB 110205A and GRB 110213A. The former shows optical emission since the early stages of the prompt phase, followed by the steep rising in flux up to ~1000 s after the burst (t -- Delta *a with Delta *a = --6.13 ? 0.75). We discuss this feature in the context of the reverse-shock scenario and interpret the following single power-law decay as being forward-shock dominated. Polarization measurements, obtained with the RINGO2 instrument mounted on the Liverpool Telescope, also provide hints on the nature of the emitting ejecta. The latter event, instead, displays a very peculiar optical to near-infrared light curve, with two achromatic peaks. In this case, while the first peak is probably due to the onset of the afterglow, we interpret the second peak to be produced by newly injected material, signifying a late-time activity of the central engine.
NGC 602 is a young stellar cluster located in a peripheral region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) known as the wing. Far from the main body of the galaxy and abutting the Magellanic Bridge, the ...SMC's wing is characterized by low gas and stellar content. With deep optical imaging from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we have discovered an extensive pre-main-sequence (PMS) population, with stellar masses in the range 0.6-3 M unk. These low-mass PMS stars formed coevally with the central cluster about 4 Myr ago. Spitzer IRAC images of the same region also reveal a population of young stellar objects, some of which are still embedded in nebular material and most of which likely formed even more recently than the young stars detected with HST ACS imaging. We infer that star formation started in this region similar to 4 Myr ago with the formation of the central cluster and gradually propagated toward the outskirts where star formation is presently ongoing.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are cationic peptides that kill bacteria with a broad spectrum of action, low toxicity to mammalian cells and exceptionally low rates of bacterial resistance. These ...features have led to considerable efforts in developing AMPs as an alternative antibacterial therapy. In vitro studies have shown that AMPs interfere with membrane bilayer integrity via several possible mechanisms, which are not entirely understood. We have performed the synthesis, membrane lysis measurements, and biophysical characterization of a novel hybrid peptide. These measurements show that PA-Pln149 does not form nanopores, but instead promotes membrane rupture. It causes fast rupture of the bacterial model membrane (POPG-rich) at concentrations 100-fold lower than that required for the disruption of mammalian model membranes (POPC-rich). Atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed for single and multiple copies of PA-Pln149 in the presence of mixed and pure POPC/POPG bilayers to investigate the concentration-dependent membrane disruption by the hybrid peptide. These simulations reproduced the experimental trend and provided a potential mechanism of action for PA-Pln149. It shows that the PA-Pln149 does not form nanopores, but instead promotes membrane destabilization through peptide aggregation and induction of membrane negative curvature with the collapse of the lamellar arrangement. The sequence of events depicted for PA-Pln149 may offer insights into the mechanism of action of AMPs previously shown to induce negative deformation of membrane curvature and often associated with peptide translocation via non-bilayer intermediate structures.
H II regions are the birth places of stars, and as such they provide the best measure of current star formation rates (SFRs) in galaxies. The close proximity of the Magellanic Clouds allows us to ...probe the nature of these star forming regions at small spatial scales. To study the H II regions, we compute the bolometric infrared flux, or total infrared (TIR), by integrating the flux from 8 to 500 {mu}m. The TIR provides a measure of the obscured star formation because the UV photons from hot young stars are absorbed by dust and re-emitted across the mid-to-far-infrared (IR) spectrum. We aim to determine the monochromatic IR band that most accurately traces the TIR and produces an accurate obscured SFR over large spatial scales. We present the spatial analysis, via aperture/annulus photometry, of 16 Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 16 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) H II region complexes using the Spitzer Space Telescope's IRAC (3.6, 4.5, 8 {mu}m) and MIPS (24, 70, 160 {mu}m) bands. Ultraviolet rocket data (1500 and 1900 A) and SHASSA H{alpha} data are also included. All data are convolved to the MIPS 160 {mu}m resolution (40 arcsec full width at half-maximum), and apertures have a minimum radius of 35''. The IRAC, MIPS, UV, and H{alpha} spatial analysis are compared with the spatial analysis of the TIR. We find that nearly all of the LMC and SMC H II region spectral energy distributions (SEDs) peak around 70 {mu}m at all radii, from {approx}10 to {approx}400 pc from the central ionizing sources. As a result, we find the following: the sizes of H II regions as probed by 70 {mu}m are approximately equal to the sizes as probed by TIR ({approx}70 pc in radius); the radial profile of the 70 {mu}m flux, normalized by TIR, is constant at all radii (70 {mu}m {approx} 0.45TIR); the 1{sigma} standard deviation of the 70 {mu}m fluxes, normalized by TIR, is a lower fraction of the mean (0.05-0.12 out to {approx}220 pc) than the normalized 8, 24, and 160 {mu}m normalized fluxes (0.12-0.52); and these results are the same for the LMC and the SMC. From these results, we argue that 70 {mu}m is the most suitable IR band to use as a monochromatic obscured star formation indicator because it most accurately reproduces the TIR of H II regions in the LMC and SMC and over large spatial scales. We also explore the general trends of the 8, 24, 70, and 160 {mu}m bands in the LMC and SMC H II region SEDs, radial surface brightness profiles, sizes, and normalized (by TIR) radial flux profiles. We derive an obscured SFR equation that is modified from the literature to use 70 {mu}m luminosity, SFR(M {sub sun} yr{sup -1}) = 9.7(0.7) x 10{sup -44} L {sub 70}(ergs s{sup -1}), which is applicable from 10 to 300 pc distance from the center of an H II region. We include an analysis of the spatial variations around H II regions between the obscured star formation indicators given by the IR and the unobscured star formation indicators given by UV and H{alpha}. We compute obscured and unobscured SFRs using equations from the literature and examine the spatial variations of the SFRs around H II regions.
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